Bernie Sanders Commits To Staying In Democratic Primary, Says He Sees ‘Narrow’ Path To Winning
Bernie Sanders has committed to staying in the Democratic primary after a string of major losses left him facing a nearly insurmountable deficit, saying this week that he still sees a “narrow path” to victory.
As The Hill wrote, Sanders addressed the primary this week during an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, explaining he still believes he has at least a small chance of winning the Democratic nomination.
“We’re about 300 delegates behind. Biden has 1,200, we have 900,” Sanders said. “There is a path. It is admittedly a narrow path. But I would tell you, Seth, that there are a lot of people who are supporting me. We have a strong grass-roots movement who believe that we have got to stay in, in order to continue the fight.”
Political experts have said there is very little chance that Sanders could win the nomination, especially given that Democratic contests are not winner-take-all. For him to overcome Biden’s lead in pledged delegates, Sanders would need to win all of the remaining polls with more than 57 percent of the vote in each state — a mark that he has only reached in a handful of states, and could not reach this year in his home state of Vermont despite defeating Hillary Clinton by more than 60 points in 2016.
As the Washington Examiner noted, Sanders has already lost his best chance to pick up delegates in major states, losing Texas as well as Michigan, and winning California by smaller numbers than initial polling had indicated.
After poor performances in each of the first three contests of the Democratic primary, Biden surged back with a larger-than-expected win in South Carolina and followed with a string of upset victories on Super Tuesday. He followed that up with strong performances on each of the other major Tuesday polls and has now taken what many see as a commanding lead.
But the Democratic primary has gone into something of a holding pattern amid the coronavirus outbreak, with many states postponing primaries or pushing them out for weeks or months. Both candidates have been forced off the campaign trail, offering streaming statements and updates on the crisis.
As The Hill noted, the Sanders camp has insisted that staying in the race allows him to push progressive proposals like Medicare for All, which Biden does not support. Instead, the former vice president proposes expanding the Affordable Care Act by adding a public option, which had to be taken out of the initial proposal from Barack Obama in order to gain enough support to pass.
